Case Number 25375

HALLOWEEN II (1981) (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

You don't know what death is.

Opening Statement

John Carpenter's original 1978 Halloween was a revelation for the
horror genre. It wasn't the first slasher movie and nor was it the best, but it
captured the cultural mind enough to explode the form, resulting in innumerable
imitators and endless series of pretenders. Its sequel, released three years
later, was also a trendsetter in its own way. On the one hand, it revolutionized
the idea of the horror franchise (a dubious distinction, to be sure), and on the
other, it took the very good ideas from the original into wild and silly new
realms. Now, Halloween II arrives in its second, and definitive, Blu-ray
edition courtesy of Shout! Factory.

Facts of the Case

Beginning mere moments after the end of the original film, Laurie Strode
(Jamie Lee Curtis, True Lies) has been taken to a local hospital to tend
to her stab wounds. While Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance, The Great Escape)
plugged six slugs into the maniacal Michael Myers (Dick Warlock,
Pumpkinhead, who was also the stunt coordinator), the killer immediately
rose up and disappeared into the night. But now Michael has arrived at the
hospital, mask and all, ready to take care of unfinished business, and no
doctor, nurse, or orderly is safe.

The Evidence

Once upon a time, I hated this movie. I still know why, but it had been many
years since I last watched it and harbor much more positive feelings about it
today.

Halloween II can still, by no means, be called great film and its
most interesting aspect is also its greatest flaw. In opening the film directly
after the first film, it creates two films that take place over less than a
single day, which gives the sequel a nice continuity with the first. The trouble
is that John Carpenter, in the final moments of the original Halloween,
changed Michael Myers (or "The Shape," as he appears in the credits)
from a man into an unkillable monster. Rick Rosenthal (Halloween:
Resurrection), who directed the sequel, takes that notion even farther, with
multiple false deaths and increasingly impossible returns. That, of course,
became the standard for horror films, but that's something nobody should
celebrate.

There's plenty to like about the film, in spite of that, though. Rosenthal
doesn't quite achieve the level of suspense that Carpenter delivered in the
first film (a near-impossible task, in any case), but it's a measured, slow
building level of tension that actually works pretty well. Within the confines
of the hospital, Michael Myers is able to work out of the shadows and strike his
victims without forcing absurd coincidences. The level of gore is strong, as
well. It's not a murder-fest, but there is enough blood letting and creativity
in the kills to keep things interesting, if not as tense as it could be. How
both Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers are able to return in Halloween 4 makes
absolutely no sense, but that's a story for another time.

Halloween II received a Blu-ray upgrade less than 18 months ago from
Universal, and while I can't comment on how that release looked and sounded,
this new 2-disc release from Shout! Factory is definitely the version to own.
The 2.35:1/1080p transfer is phenomenal, nearly perfect in every way. The
natural grain structure has been retained nicely, giving it a nicely filmic
quality, and the colors are warm and realistic throughout. Black levels are deep
and solid, while whites stand out well against them. The image is as crisp and
clear as it ever has been and, while there are a few blips and instances of
damage, they are rare enough to be barely noticeable. The two lossless audio
mixes are great, as well. The 2.0 track is the one that most accurately
represents how the film originally sounded, but the 5.1 remix is its best
representation. The dialog and music sound perfect, while the surround channels
are filled with nicely differentiated background voices, car noise, and various
other sounds. Purists will stick with the 2.0, but the 5.1 is really the one to
use.

The extras really round the film out, and are nearly all newly produced for
this release. It starts with a pair of very strong audio commentaries. The first
features Rosenthal alongside actor Leo Rossi (Fast Getaway), who plays
Bud in the movie. This is a nice, amicable conversation between friends, with
plenty of information about the production and the intentions with the film. The
second finds Dick Warlock with Robert v. Galluzzo, who created the Icons of
Fright website. This one is filled with more stories than information and isn't
quite as engaging as the first, but it's still well worth a listen.

The release continues with a separate DVD with the television cut of the
film. Most of the blood and guts gets cut out and a few extra scenes are added
in to keep its running time basically intact. The image and sound aren't nearly
as good as the Blu-ray, as it clearly hasn't been given the same level of
restoration, but it's of interest nonetheless. That disc also has a DVD-ROM copy
of the script, for those of you who want to read the piercing dialog.

Back to the Blu-ray, which continues with a 45 minute featurette, "The
Nightmare Isn't Over!" It's a fairly standard making-of piece that has a
lot of the same info from the commentaries, but gets more involved in the
troubles between Rosenthal and Carpenter about the production, and is
interesting enough. A few deleted scenes and an alternate ending also feature
Rosenthal's commentary, a short piece revisiting the film's locations, trailers,
and a still gallery close out the disc.

Closing Statement

Halloween II is a big step down from the classic original, but taken
next to most horror sequels, it stands up pretty well. It's imperfect in many
ways, but still a measured and fairly enjoyable slasher film. The Blu-ray
presentation from Shout! Factory is fantastic and fans of the film will be very
happy with what they find.